Hand rail



B. L. SIEGAL Dec. 3, 1968 HAND RAIL 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 18, 1966 INVENTOR.

.,W ATTORNEYS Dec. 3, 1968 B. SIEGAL 3,414,236

AND RAIL med 1966 3 Sheets$ 2 B. L. SIEGAL Dec. 3, 1968 HAND RAIL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 18, 1966 ll wllia Full 2 INVENTOR.

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oa ATTORNEYS BY w United States Patent 3,414,236 HAND RAIL Burton L. Siegal, Skokie, Ill., assignor to Kenron Aluminum & Glass Corporation, Niles, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Aug. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 573,241 8 Claims. (Cl. 256-22) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Foldable hand rail in the form of a downwardly opening channel having side walls diverging at their lower ends, the insides of which form wedging surfaces. The diverging side walls engage outwardly extending feet of an inner channel, pivoted to the pickets of the hand rail. Means located between the pickets are provided to draw the hand rail toward the channel 'and wedge the channel into clamping engagement with the pickets by wedging movement of the diverging side walls of the rail along the outwardly extending feet of the inner channel, to thereby provide a rigid hand rail structure free from rattling.

In carrying out my invention I simplify the construction of foldable hand railings and provide a rattle free railing by connecting the pickets to an inner channel and covering the inner channel by a hand rail so arranged as to wedge the sides of the inner channel into tight engagement with the pickets, as the hand rail is drawn toward the channel, to thereby provide a rigid rattle free hand rail structure free from rattling.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved form of hand railing structure collapsible for shipment and storage and extensible for assembly, arranged with a view toward ease in assembly to th newel-post of a building.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simplified form of hand rail for stairways, balconies, porches and the like in which the hand rail conceals the fastening means for the pickets supporting the rail and also serves to effect gripping of the pickets when assembled in place.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a simple and improved form of hand railing collapsible by moving the top rail of the railing about the axes of connection of the pickets to the lower rail of the railing, in which the hand rail forms a cover for the top rail of the railing and a means for effecting gripping of the pickets when the hand rail is assembled in place on the top rail of the railing.

Still another object of the invention is to simplify the metal hand rails heretofore in use by pivoting the pickets to an upper channel for the railing and using the hand rail as a cover for the upper channel and the pivot pins for the rivets, and by providing guiding and clamping connections between the hand rail and the inner channel, clamping the legs of the inner channel into gripping engagement with the pickets, upon drawing of the hand rail into engagement with the channel and securing the hand rail in place thereon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sectional structural element particularly adapted for a hand railing, in which the increased lateral and torsional rigidity and improved vertical stiffeners of a hollow structural member is attained by forming the element in the form of two channel-like members the walls of which are spaced from each other and extend in the same general direction, with engaging connections between the free extremities of ice the members, and drawn into firm engagement with each other to form a hollow beam-like structure.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a simplified and improved form of mounting base for a newelpost for a hand rail, in which the base is rigidly clamped to the newel-post by driving an expanding wedge upwardly within the base.

A further object of the invention is to provide a base for a newel-post for railings and the like in which a base plate has a central post extending upwardly therefrom, a lower portion of which conforms to the interior of a hollow inner periphery of the newel-post and the upper portion of which is slotted and tapers inwardly, in which the inner portion of the post is hollow and frusto-conical in form to effect expansion of the post to clamp the newelpost by the driving of an expander plug therein.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a railing constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line IIII of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse sectional view somewhat similar to FIGURE 2 but showing the hand rail in the process of assembly to the supporting channel;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line IV--IV of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line VV of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken longitudinally of the hand rail and showing the mounting of an end cap for the hand rail;

FIGURE 7 is a transverse sectional view taken through the hand rail and looking at the end cap toward the inner side thereof;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken along the bottom rail and showing the mounting of an end cap to the bottom rail;

FIGURE 9 is an end view of the bottom rail;

FIGURE 10 is a top plan view of the base for a newel-post;

FIGURE 11 is a view in side elevation of the base shown in FIGURE 10; and

FIGURE 12 is a transverse sectional view taken through the base and showing a newel-post mounted on the base and clamped thereto.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, I have shown in FIGURE 1, hand railings 10 and 11 for a stairway and landing or porch of a building. The railings 10 and 11 are of a similar construction so one railing only need herein be shown or described in detail and same part numbers will be applied to the same parts of each railing.

As shown in FIGURE 1 the railing 10 slopes in accordance with the pitch of the stairs of the building and is supported at its front end on a front newel-post 13 on vertically spaced brackets 14 and 15 and at its rear end on a newel-post 16 on vertically spaced brackets 17 and 18. In a like manner the railing 11 is supported at its front end on the newel-post 16 on vertically spaced brackets 19 and 20 and at its rear end on the wall of a building on vertically spaced brackets 21 and 22.

As shown in FIGURES 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the railing 11 includes a top rail 23, extending along and concealing a channel 24 and the pivotal mountings of pickets 25 thereon. The pickets 25 are pivoted between legs 27, 27 of the channel on rivets 26 extending through said legs 27, 27. In riveting the pickets to the channel 24, the rivets are clinched with sufficient clearance to permit ready collapsing of the roll assembly for shipment and storing.

The channel 24 has oppositely extending feet 29, 29 extending therealong at generally right angles to the legs 27, 27 at the lower ends thereof. The laterally extending feet 29 have angularly upwardly extending extremities 30, 30 engageable at their ends with inclined camming or wedging surfaces 31, 31 of legs 32, 32 of the rail 23. The inclined wedging surfaces 31, 31 terminate into angularly inwardly and downwardly extending clamping ribs 33, 33 extending along the legs for substantially the length thereof. The clamping ribs 33, 33 generally conform to the angularly extending extremities 30, 30 of the feet 29. The clamping ribs 33 engage said extremities 30, 30 as the rail is moved toward the channel 24 and come into clamping engagement with said extremities to effect movement of the legs 27, 27 into clamping engagement with the pickets 25, 25.

The means for centering the rail 11 with respect to the channel 24 and clamping the legs 27, 27 comprise a pair of parallel spaced relatively short stiff ribs 35, 35 extending along and upwardly of a web 36 of the channel 24 for the length thereof on opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline of said web. The space between said ribs opens toward a concave innersurface or web 37 of the rail 11.

The web 37 of the rail 23 has parallel spaced legs 39, 39 depending therefrom on opposite sides of the centerline thereof and spaced to fit between the inner surfaces of the ribs 35, 35 with a relatively close fit. The legs 39, 39 have inner walls 40, 40 serrated for the length thereof, as indicated by reference character 41, to form in effect facing threads or V-grooves extending for the length of said legs. The threads or V-grooves 41 are adapted to be engaged by machine screws 43 extending through apertured portions of the web 36 of the channel 24, and threaded in the space between the legs 39, 39 into threaded engagement with the serrations or V-grooves 41, 41. The stiff ribs 35, 35 when engaging the depending serrated legs 39, 39 restrict the tendency of said legs to spread outwardly, with a resultant strong screw holding power of the legs 39, 39 without unduly increasing the thickness of the wall sections thereof. The legs 39, 39 thus form a stiffening means for the web 37 of the rail and a gripping means for the threads of the machine screws 43, and accommodate the positioning of the rail along the channel in a desired location without accurately locating the holes for the machine screws.

The rail 23 may thus be placed on the channel 24 with the legs 29, 29 in the space between the ribs 35, 35 to engage the inner walls thereof as shown in FIGURE 3. The machine screws 43 extending through bolt holes in the Web 36 of the channel may then have threaded engagement with the serrations 41 and draw the rail toward the channel and firmly engage the ribs 33, 33 with the extremities 30, 30 of the legs 27, 27 to form a hollow channel-like beam structure. As the rail 23 is drawn toward the channel 24, the wedging surfaces 31 will cam the legs 27, 27 toward the pickets 25 and the clamping ribs 33, 33 will firmly clamp the legs to said pickets as they come into clamping engagement with the extremities 30, 30.

The lower ends of the pickets 25, 25 are pivoted between lower rails 44, 44 on transverse pivot pins 45, 45 (FIGURES 1 and 5). The lower rails 44, 44 have plain inner faces 46 engageable with the opposite side walls of the pickets 25 and are shown as having decorative stiffening ribs 47, 47 extending laterally from the upper ends thereof, for the length thereof.

As shown in FIGUSE 1, the top and bottom rails of the railing 10 are spaced from the newel-posts 13 and 16. The brackets 14 and 17 are adapted to extend between opposite end portions of the rails 44, 44 and support the rails at the required angle. In FIGURE 1, the brackets 14 and .4 17 are shown as having bosses 48 at their inner ends, fitting between the rails 44, 44 and drilled to afford a means for supporting said rails on said brackets, as by rivets or machine screws 49. End caps 50, 50 are provided to close opposite ends of the rails where the rails 44, 44 stop short of the newel-posts 13 and 16 as is the case with the hand railing 10. Said end caps generally conform to the cross section of the rails 45 with the pickets therebetween and have lugs 51 extending inwardly therefrom and fitting in the space between the rails and secured thereto as by rivets or machine screws 53.

The upper channel is supported on the brackets 15 and 18 in a manner similar to which the lower rails are supported on said brackets, the bosses of said brackets extending between the legs of said channels and are secured thereto as by rivets or machine screws. The upper channel 24 is secured to the brackets 15 and 18 prior to assembly of the hand rail 23 thereto. Prior to assembly of the hand rail to the upper channel 24, the ends thereof are closed by end caps 55, 55 generally conforming to the cross section thereof.

The end caps 55 each have spaced lugs 56 and 57 engageable along the insides of the legs 32 and guiding the end cap in proper relation with respect to the end of the railing. As shown in FIGURE 6 the top lugs 56 engage along inner vertical wall portions 59, 59 of the legs 32, 32 of the rail 23 and closely fit along said wall portions. The bottom lugs engage shoulders 60, 60 extending along the clamping ribs 33, 33. A machine screw 61 extending through the end cap 55 is threaded into cross threaded engagement with the longitudinally extending serrations 41 to cut its own threads in said serrations and to retain the end cap 55 in position.

Upon assembly of the end caps 55, 55 to opposite ends of the railings 23, the railings are then placed over the channels 24 with the spaced legs 39, 39 engageable with the inner walls of the ribs 35, 35 and secured thereto to clamp the legs 27, 27 of the channel 24 into engagement with opposite sides of the pickets 25. The railing is then rigidly held in position on its channel 24 and clamps the legs of the channel along the pickets 25.

The newel-posts 13 and 16 are shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 as being rectangular hollow newel-posts supported on bases 62. The bases for the newel-posts are all of a similar construction so one only need herein be shown and described in detail. As shown in FIGURES 10, 11 and 12 each base 62 includes a base plate 63, generally rectangular in plan view and converging toward a central hollow column or post 65. The column 65 generally conforms in cross section to the cross section of the inside of the newel-post, and has a lower rectangular wall portion extending vertically of the base plate and having vertical side walls 66. The side walls 66 are spaced to closely conform to the inner periphery of the newel-post and hold the neWel-post firmly in position when lightly driven thereon, The column 65 also has four sets of tapering generally triangular clamping fingers 67 forming continuations of the walls 66 and tapering inwardly of said walls toward the center of the column. The clamping fingers 67 are separated by slots 69 opening to the top of said column and extending downwardly therealong to the vertical wall portion 66. The angle of taper of the right angled outer faces of the fingers 67 may be one and a half degrees to facilitate the placing of a hollow newelpost on the column. The interior portion of the column has a generally frusto-conical tapered wall portion 70 uniformly tapering from the bottom to the top end thereof at an angle of taper which may be in the order of from between three and four degrees. An expander plug 71 is provided for expanding the column and bringing the clamping fingers into clamping engagement with the inner walls of the newel-post. The expander plug 71 is shown as having a frusto-conical wall portion 73 engageable with the wall portion 70.

When the newel-post is driven on the post 65 into engagement with the vertical right angled Walls 66 to the top of the base plate 63, the expander 53 may be driven along the interior frusto-conical wall 70 to firmly clamp the clamping fingers 67, 67 into engagement with the interior of the post. The base plate 63 may then be secured to the floor or foundation as by lag bolts screwed into conventional plugs in the foundation.

It may be seen from the foregoing that a simple and improved railing, foldable for storage or shipment has been provided, which may readily be assembled and placed in position, and that the hand rail proper for the railing forms a covering for exposed fastening devices and besides cooperating with the railing to form a hollow beam-like structure also forms a clamping means for clamping the channel of the railing to the pickets, to firmly hold the pickets in position.

It may further be seen that the connections from the railing to the newel-posts are of a simplified form and are generally concealed, and that a simplified form of base is provided for each newel-post, holding the newel-post in a true vertical position and firmly clam-ping the newel-post in this position.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which the invention may be embodied, it may readily be understood that various variations and modifications in the invention may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hand rail comprising,

an upper channel having a web and parallel spaced legs depending therefrom,

a plurality of pickets spaced along said upper channel and extending between said legs and pivotally connected to said legs of said upper channel,

a channel-like hand rail adapted to extend about and along said upper channel and having depending legs extending downwardly along opposite parallel legs of said upper channel,

the inside of said depending legs of said hand rail flaring outwardly towards the bottoms thereof and having a wedging engagement with said legs of said upper channel, closing the space between said legs of said hand rail and said upper channel to provide a hollow beam-like structure, and

means drawing said hand rail towards said upper channel and positively wedging said pallel spaced legs of said upper channel into gripping engagement said pickets by slidable engagement of the flaring insides of said depending legs of said hand rail with said legs of said channel.

2. The structure of claim 1.

wherein guiding and aligning connections are provided between the web of said upper channel and said hand rail and comprise:

parallel spaced ribs extending upwardly of and along the web of said upper channel, and parallel spaced legs extending downwardly of said hand rail and engageable in the space between said ribs,

said parallel spaced legs having interior wall portions extending for substantially the length thereof and formed to aiford a gripping means, and means extending through the web of said upper channel between said pickets and engageable with said gripping means for drawing said hand rail toward said upper channel.

3. The structure of claim 2,

wherein the parallel spaced legs extending downwardly of the web of said rail have inner walls having serrations extending longitudinally therealong,

wherein the ribs extending upwardly of the web of said channel are relatively short and stiff, and when engaging said legs of said channel, restrict outward spread thereof .and provide strong screw holding power, and

wherein screws extending through the web of said channel between said pickets have threads engageable with said serrations for drawing said rail toward said channel to wedge said legs of said upper channel into engagement with said pickets.

4. The structure of claim 1,

wherein the wedging connections between the legs of said hand rail and the legs of said channel comprise:

angularly extending extremities extending outwardly and angularly upwardly from the legs of said upper channel for substantially the length thereof, and

clamping ribs extending along the insides of the legs of said hand rail in verticallyspaced relation with respect to the flaring lower end portions of said legs and adapted to have clamping engagement with said angular extremities of said legs of said channel, and cooperating with said flaring legs of said hand rail to effect the clamping of the legs of said upper channel into engagement with said pickets upon the drawing of said hand rail toward said upper channel.

5. A hand rail comprising:

an upper channel having a web and parallel spaced legs depending therefrom,

a plurality of pickets spaced along said upper channel and extending between said legs,

a channel-like hand rail adapted to extend above and along said channel and having parallel legs extending along opposite legs of said channel,

engaging connections between said legs of said hand rail and said legs of said channel, closing the space between said legs of said hand rail and said legs of said channel and providing a hollow beam-like structure comprising:

inner wedging wall portions on the legs of said hand rail converging from the lower ends of said legs toward the legs of said channel,

angularly upwardly extending extremities extending angularly upwardly and outwardly of the legs of said upper channel for substantially the length thereof, and having engagement with said wedging wall portions of the legs of said hand rail as said hand rail is drawn toward said channel, and

means drawing said hand rail towards said upper channel and effecting inward movement of said legs of said upper channel into clamping engagement with said pickets.

6. The structure of claim 5,

wherein the inner wedging wall portions on the legs of said hand rail terminate into clamping ribs extending angularly downwardly towards the legs of said channel, for clamping engagement with said angular extremities extending from the legs of said channel,

and cooperating with said wedging wall portions on the legs of said hand rail to clamp the legs of said upper channel into engagement with said pickets as said hand rail is drawn toward said upper channel.

7. The structure of claim 5,

wherein guiding and aligning connections are provided between the web of said rail and the web of said upper channel and comprise:

parallel ribs extending upwardly of and along the web of said channel,

parallel legs extending downwardly of the web of said rail and engageable within the ribs of said rail, and

wherein said parallel legs depending from the web of said rail form gripping means adapted to be gripped by means drawing said hand rail toward said upper channels, for effecting the moving of the legs of said channel into clamping engagement with said pickets.

8. The structure of claim 5.

wherein the parallel legs have inner walls having uniform serrations extending therealong,

wherein screws extending through the web of said channel are adapted to have threaded engagement with said serrations for drawing said hand rail toward said upper channel and effecting clamping of the legs of said upper channel into engagement with said pickets, and

wherein said upwardly extending ribs are relatively short and stiff, to restrict outward spread of said parallel legs and provide strong screw holding power of said serrations.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1957 Spescha 25622 1/1959 Helt 25622 2/1959 Blum 25665 11/1961 Miller 256-21O X 10/1962 Grenadier 256210 X 6/1966 Culter 256-22 FOREIGN PATENTS 9/1958 Belgium. 7/ 1964 Great Britain. 7/ 1965 Switzerland.

15 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Assistant Examiner. 

